THE Philippines will get a larger slice of the European cruise market when four of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ ships from Germany call at the country’s various ports this year.

These are namely Europa in February, Columbus 2 in March, Bremen in May and Hanseatic in October. Europa has been an annual visitor for three years, while Hanseatic last came in 2010.

The luxury, 450-pax Europa is scheduled to arrive in February, staying for seven days and covering Manila, Hundred Islands in Pangasinan, Boracay and various points in Cebu and Palawan.

In March, first-time visitor Columbus 2 will spend six days in the country, bringing 698 guests. It will stop at Manila, Boracay, Cebu, Bohol and Palawan.

Bremen will island-hop between destinations in Palawan, Cebu, Bohol and Mindoro for 11 days in May, with under 500 cruisers.

Finally, expedition ship Hanseatic will sail from the Antarctic to the Philippines in October, calling at the ports of Manila, Subic, Basco in Batanes and Bohol with about 400 passengers over four days.

Marilyn Tunguia, inbound tour supervisor, Sharp Travel Service, noted that more cruise ships were coming to the Philippines, staying for a longer period and including more destinations. Sharp is the groundhandler for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.

She added that another new ship, Europa 2, would visit the Philippines in January, February and March next year. Spending four days each visit, it will bring different groups of passengers on itineraries including Hundred Islands in Pangasinan, Manila, Palawan, Boracay and Bohol.

DUSIT International, which now has veteran hoteliers Giovanni Angelini, David Shackleton and Jeffrey Flowers on board the ship, is sailing into golden seas, with at least five hotels confirmed to open this year in diverse locations and each showcasing new brand standards.

The five hotels, all new-builds and management contracts, include a Dusit Thani in Guam, Hainan and Abu Dhabi; a Dusit Devarana in New Delhi; and a Dusit D2 in Pasadena (US).

In the pipeline are a Dusit Thani in Jeddah, a Dusit Devarana in Hainan and a Dusit D2 in New Delhi. This month, CEO, Chanin Donavanik, expects to sign a Dusit D2 in Nairobi and, in February, seal a JV in China with a local partner to manage and develop Dusit hotels in the country, as the group has done in India.

Last year, a Dusit Thani Maldives was opened.

“Now we can expect to open seven to 10 hotels every year,” said Chanin.

The group has development offices for China (in Hong Kong), India, Middle East and Europe (in Dubai) and North America (which is covered by Flowers, formerly with Marco Polo Hotels).

“We have people and offices in place, that’s why we are growing. As well, as a Thai brand, we are seen as neutral – not American, not European,” said Chanin.

He added: “We made a mistake of not pushing expansion in the past, but it was also because we weren’t sure what to do. We tried, for example, to do a JV in China, but it was difficult to get a good deal and it often kept changing. We couldn’t move much until we had people on the ground and it took time to get the talent and set it up.

“So when Giovanni (former CEO of Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts), Jeff and David (formerly with InterContinental Hotels Group and Starwood Hotels & Resorts) left their jobs, we had the right talent, people with the experience and expertise, to help us expand.

“Our objective is to grow the brand so that in three to five years, we can be considered as one of the better hotel companies. To do that, we have to keep opening good hotels.”

Chanin stressed however that he remained committed to grow in Thailand, Dusit’s base for 63 years. It has a US$150-US$160 million property fund listed on the stock exchange and is actively seeking hotels to acquire and put into the fund.

But he said good assets were hard to come by as hotel prices were high and many were owned by wealthy families who did not want to sell.

“We are still positive about Thailand except for some locations like Bangkok, where the ARR is weak as there are so many hotels. But as a whole, the government is doing all the right things – moving the low-cost carriers to the old airport and going ahead to expand Suvarnabhumi, for example. With a third runway and maybe the expansion of the terminal, it will be double the size of Phuket airport,” said Chanin.

“Aside from the government’s moves, it’s also the wealth created in Asia and the number of people in the region. Two million Chinese and one million Russians visited Thailand last year; more Indians are also visiting. So, Thailand will continue to do well.”

– Full report in TTG Asia, January 25 issue

SRI LANKAN Aitken Spence Hotels has pulled out of an agreement to set up a resort in the country with Bangkok-based The Soneva Group.

“We are talking to international operators for a new partnership to set up resorts in two locations – a four-hectare and an 11-hectare site,” said Malin Hapugoda, managing director of Aitken Spence Hotels.

The agreement was originally sealed (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 17, 2011) between Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings, Six Senses Resorts & Spas – which was then managed by founder Sonu Shivdasani – and another local company, the Favourite Group.

However, when Pegasus Capital bought over the Six Senses and Evason brands last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 26, 2012), it did not acquire this particular project.

The project was to establish the country’s first Six Senses property in Ahungalla, as well as beachfront residential villas. Aitken Spence and Soneva were each expected to contribute US$10-12 million.

As Soneva did not meet some of their obligations under the agreement, the company decided to terminate the deal, said Hapugoda. Other industry sources revealed that Soneva had cash problems and was unable to raise the required equity.

The collaboration was one of many hotel projects that Sri Lankan hoteliers signed up for after the end of the country’s civil war in 2009. International hotel companies such as ITC Hotels, Minor Hotel Group, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, Accor, Starwood Hotels & Resorts are among those setting up shop in Sri Lanka.

AMADEUS has launched the Amadeus Travel Office Manager Mobile, an extension of the Amadeus Travel Office Manager (ATOM) mid-office system, providing travel consultants with on-the-go access to booking data, pricing and management reports.

With the new app, travel consultants will be able to check task queues created in ATOM and take action on due or overdue tasks, access supplier and customer contact details, send emails and messages, and get an overview of the daily booking sales and payment reports from their mobile devices.

Bruno des Fontaines, vice president, customer solutions group at Amadeus Asia Pacific, said: “Amadeus Travel Office Manager Mobile enables efficiency and continuity of services wherever the travel consultants are. People are now used to working anytime, anywhere and on any device, and travel agencies need to ensure that their consultants can access information securely from systems such as Amadeus Travel Office Manager.

“We are proud to be the first travel technology company to release an application for mid-office systems and will be adding more functionalities in time to come.”

Amadeus Travel Office Manager Mobile is available to ATOM customers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore and Thailand. It can be downloaded for free on the Amadeus website or from Apple App Store.

PANORAMA Tours International is looking to establish a new office outside its Indonesian base every year for the next five years.

According to Panorama Tours Indonesia president director, Royanto Handaya, the move to set up foreign offices was to tap the rising interest in travel in Asia, fuelled by the region’s growing connectivity and middle-class segments.

“By having overseas offices, either through joint ventures or wholly owned companies, we can control the standard of service and implement best practices to serve our customers,” he added.

On the radar are cities in Vietnam, Turkey, Australia and Thailand, provided the political situation in these countries are stable, said V Endy Wiselly Lu, vice-president, international business development, Panorama Tours International.

Panorama Tours Beijing, which opened in November 2012, is the company’s fourth overseas office, with the other three located in France, Singapore and Malaysia. All its overseas offices are joint ventures with local partners.

ABSOLUTE Hotel Services (AHS) will combine Sunbeam Hotel Pattaya and neighbouring Hotel Idyll, rebranding both properties as the 268-key Eastin Hotel Pattaya come May 2013.

“This is exciting news as it will be our first Eastin Hotel in Pattaya and the fourth property under the Eastin Brand in Thailand, with a total of close to 1,000 rooms.” said Jonathan Wigley, CEO, AHS.

Located between Beach Road and Pattaya 2^nd Road in the shopping and nightlife districts, both properties are currently undergoing soft refurbishment while operating as the Sunbeam Hotel Pattaya and Hotel Idyll respectively.

The two hotels comprise 268 rooms and suites, with facilities such as an all-day dining restaurant, bakery, outdoor swimming pool, business centre, fitness centre, as well as meeting and function rooms.

CARLSON Rezidor Hotel Group is poised to remain the international hotel operator with the most number of properties in India, following 13 hotel openings and 13 new signings in 2012.

The Group now has 63 hotels in operation and 44 hotels in development in its Indian portfolio.

“Apart from opening 13 more hotels in India this year, we will continue in our efforts to drive hotel management excellence and build capability at all levels. Carlson Rezidor is also ready to move forward aggressively with rolling out our midscale Park Inn by Radisson hotel brand in selected locations in India,” said Simon C Barlow, president, Asia Pacific, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.

Properties due to open this year include the 124-key Park Plaza Salem, the 100-key Park Inn by Radisson Gurgaon Bilaspur, the 45-key Country Inn & Suites by Carlson Jim Corbett and the 94-key Country Inns & Suites by Carlson Navi Mumbai.

In 2012, the group launched the first Radisson Blu hotels in Ahmedabad, Ghaziabad, Jaipur and Nagpur, as well as its first hotels in Hyderabad and Kandla. The 13 new deals signed last year comprised major cities, resort destinations and satellite towns such as Faridabad, Gandhinagar, Jalandhar, Karjat, Salem, Gurgaon, Bhiwadi and Goa.

Carlson Rezidor’s expansion in India also gained added traction with the April 2012 signing of a strategic alliance with Bestech Hospitalities to develop a network of 49 Park Inn by Radisson hotels in north and central India by 2024.

LONDON-based broadcaster Travel Channel International has joined PATA as a Preferred Partner, a partnership that will enable both parties to share data including research, statistics and analysis and to develop joint consumer and industry surveys and reports.

The tie-up will also allow the two to collaborate on brand-building opportunities at major events such as PATA Annual Conference, PATA Travel Mart and PATA Hub City Forums.

PATA CEO, Martin J Craigs, said: “Our mutually beneficial partnership with Travel Channel International will give our members special access to exciting programmes and great insights during PATA events. Travel Channel presenters are well versed in addressing the latest trends affecting the travel industry such as luxury getaways, backpacking adventures, culinary holidays, green trips and more.”

Owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, Travel Channel transmits 24 hours a day in 21 languages to 130 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Its core programming includes World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides, Inside Luxury Travel, Globe Trekker, Essential and Travel Today.

IMPROVED flight capacities have lifted Asian arrivals to Australia, resulting in a six per cent increase in visitors from Asia for the year ending September 2012, led by growth from China.

According to the International Visitor Survey published by Tourism Research Australia last month, Asia accounted for 2.2 million of the 5.6 million arrivals (aged 15 and over), which saw a three per cent rise.

China overtook the UK as the second-largest inbound market, thanks to recent capacity injections by China Southern Airlines, Air China and China Eastern Airlines. New Zealand took the top spot with 1.1 million arrivals, followed by China at 573,071 and the UK with 558,149.

Queensland remained a popular choice for China. Chinese numbers were up 24 per cent to 248,000 and expenditure A$449 million (US$474 million), up 19 per cent.

“There are strong signs the state’s share of the China market will increase even further in 2013, with additional China Southern and China Eastern flights scheduled to arrive in the new year,” said tourism minister Jann Stuckey.

During the same period, 61,000 Singaporeans travelled to Queensland, up 11 per cent, staying longer and spending more year-on-year.

Stuckey remarked: “Scoot’s new direct Singapore-Gold Coast flights, which began in June, have also made an impact, with 31,000 Singaporeans travelling to Gold Coast in the year up to September, a 29 per cent increase over 2011.”

Meanwhile, India also performed strongly, with arrivals increasing 11 per cent to 30,000.

“We know aviation access is vital to increasing international visitor numbers and that is why the Newman government created the A$8 million Attracting Aviation Investment Fund,” she added.

HARNESSING the reach of Ang Lee’s movie, Life of Pi, India has announced its new tourism campaign, Land of Pi.

The film, based on Yann Martel’s book of the same name, was largely shot in Puducherry in Pondicherry and Munnar in Kerala.

The campaign will run in English, Mandarin, Japanese, French and German, with roadshows held in mainland China and Taiwan initially. India’s tourism ministry will also run Land of Pi online contests, in which two winners each month stand to win air tickets to Chennai or Kochi and holiday packages to Puducherry and Munnar. Special walking trails and tours have also been finalised for tourists on Land of Pi itineraries.

Tourism minister, K Chiranjeevi, said the ministry would roll out incentives and promotions for international filmmakers who wish to shoot their films in India.

“Life of Pi is a beautiful film with images that leave a lasting impression. The locales used have been portrayed aesthetically and should give viewers an attractive preview of our destinations. I expect the Land of Pi campaign to elicit great interest in south India as an inbound tourist destination,” said Johny Abraham George, managing director, Intersight Tours & Travels Cochin.